After last years ruling by the Florida Supreme Court rejecting the wording as misleading in Amendment 3 (Florida Real Estate Taxes: Win One, Lose One), the legislature has brought it back and set Amendment 4 on the ballot for a vote in 2012. Hopefully, there won’t be another political hatchet job by the left in the state that will allow it to be derailed again.

What passing Amendment 4 will mean:

• Recapture Repeal for Common Sense Tax Relief – If approved it will allow the Florida Legislature to repeal the rule known as “recapture,” ensuring that if your property value goes down, your property taxes cannot go up, sparing countless homeowners from higher taxes on top of lower home values.

Continue Reading Amendment 4: Real Estate Tax Changes Florida Needs

Tags: Florida, legislature, real estate, taxes

The 2011 Florida legislative session ended late last night and the Florida real estate market scored some impressive victories as everything was said and done.

Here’s a synopsis of some of the more important real estate changes:

Tax relief for non-homesteaded owners and first-time buyers – Voters in 2012 will get a chance to adopt HJR 381 which will reduce the yearly assessment cap on non-homestead property from 10% to 5%. It would also give anyone who hasn’t had a homestead exemption in Florida for three years a property tax discount of 50% of the home’s assessed value, not to exceed the median home price in that county. This additional first-time homestead owner exemption phases out for the property owner over five years while their Save Our Homes is phasing in. The measure also allows the Florida Legislature to prohibit assessment increases when property values fall. Currently, the Legislature does not have the power to prevent local governments from “recapturing” the tax revenues that Save Our Homes shields during a rising real estate market.

Continue Reading Florida Real Estate: 2011 Legislative Update

Tags: Florida, legislature, new laws, real estate

Federal lawmakers recently voted to keep the maximum size of loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA for high-cost areas at their current levels ($729,750 and $625,000). President Obama finally signed the legislation, thereby extending the loan limit through 2011.

The provision means homebuyers and homeowners in expensive housing markets like California, New York, Alaska and Hawaii will continue to get a break on interest rates when they purchase or refinance. Conforming loans come with cheaper interest rates versus non-conforming or so called “jumbo” mortgages, because they are backed by the government lending entities.

While most areas will remain at the $417,000 maximum loan amount, it will continue to make a huge difference in the various high cost areas that exist around the country.

Continue Reading High Cost Area Loan Limits Extended Through 2011

Tags: FHA, Interest Rates, legislature, mortgages

Congress has voted to keep the maximum size of loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA at their current levels through the end of 2011. For buyers in high cost areas, the maximum mortgage amount will remain at $730,000 for Fannie/Freddie loans and at $625,000 for FHA mortgages.

Anything above these limits set by Congress falls into a category known as “Jumbo” loans. During the financial crisis, mortgage lenders became far less willing to make these types of loans and thus Congress had to act. A typical level for Jumbo loans used to be around 18% annually. This year, they’ve made up roughly 5% of the mortgage market. However, this is likely to change as the premium gap for borrowers who receive jumbo loans has fallen to about a 0.8 percentage points. Prior to the crisis, the premium level was 0.25 percentage points.

Continue Reading Congress Extends Loan Limits

Tags: buyers, legislature, mortgages

Yesterday, Congress passed the extension of the Homebuyer Tax Credit closing deadline. The extension applies only to transactions that have had contracts in place as of April 30, 2010 and have yet to close. The new closing deadline is now September 30, 2010. There is will be no gap between June 30 and the date the President signs the bill into law.

Additionally, the Senate also passed the National Flood Insurance Program extension through September 30, 2010. This will allow transactions in the pipeline to move forward and is retroactive to cover the lapse period from June 1, 2010 to the date of enactment.

Continue Reading Congress Extends Tax Credit and Flood Insurance Programs

Tags: buyers, legislature, mortgages, real estate